Stock futures are sharply lower Monday as investors grow increasingly concerned about the impact of the war in the Middle East on the global economy; Oil prices jumped to their highest level in nearly four years as the war hampers the commodity’s supply chain; Hims & Hers Health stock is surging on reports of a deal with Novo Nordisk to sell its weight loss products on the platform; Kalshi and Polymarket are reportedly in talks for new funding rounds that would value the prediction markets at $20 billion each; and HP Enterprise is set to kick off a busy week of earnings. Here’s what you need to know today.
Stocks Pointing Sharply Lower as Volatility Persists
Stock futures are tumbling this morning as investors assess the impact of the ongoing war and look ahead to a week of earnings reports and economic data. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which posted its biggest weekly loss since April last week, were down 1.2% recently. Futures linked to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were each 1.1% lower. On Friday, the Dow sank 1% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.3% and 1.6%, respectively, in a volatile session that was also affected by a weaker-than-expected February jobs report. Crude oil futures surged above $100 per barrel for the first time since mid-2022 (more on that below), while gold futures dropped more than 1% to around $5,100 an ounce. Bitcoin was trading around $67,600 recently, up from overnight lows of about $65,600 but still well below the highs of $74,000 it posted last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects interest rates on all sorts of loans, was at 4.17%, up from Friday’s close of 4.13%.
Oil Prices Soar as Iran Conflict Drags On
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were up more than 12% recently, trading around $102 a barrel, after peaking at overnight highs around $119. The commodity is trading at its highest level in nearly four years as the war in Iran has hampered shipping through the key Strait of Hormuz, where much of the world’s oil passes through in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday that oil prices “will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over,” and said higher prices are a “very small price to pay” for peace. The shock to oil prices is also raising gas prices, with the American Automobile Association’s gas price tracker putting the national average at about $3.48 a gallon on Monday, up nearly 50 cents from the same time a week ago.
Hims & Hers Stock Jumps on Report of Novo Nordisk Deal
Shares of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) are soaring after Bloomberg reported that the telehealth provider has reached a deal with Novo Nordisk (NVO) to sell the Danish drugmaker’s weight loss drugs on its platform. The report said the companies could announce the agreement as soon as Monday. Last month, Hims & Hers surprised the weight loss drug industry by launching its own compounded version of a semaglutide pill, the active ingredient in Novo’s Wegovy. Novo attacked the launch, and Hims pulled the drug as Novo filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Hims from selling its compounded weight loss medications. The companies had a deal to sell Novo’s weight loss products previously, but Novo pulled out last year over concerns with the online pharmacy’s compounding practices. Hims & Hers shares were up more than 40% in recent premarket trading, while Novo Nordisk’s U.S.-listed shares rose 1%.
Kalshi, Polymarket Target $20B Valuations in New Fundraising Rounds
The two biggest prediction market providers, Kalshi and Polymarket, are looking to raise new rounds of funding, with each company looking to be valued around $20 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend. In fundraising rounds late last year, the Journal reported, Polymarket was valued around $9 billion, while Kalshi said in December that it had secured a $1 billion funding round, putting its valuation at $11 billion. One of the people familiar with the new round’s talks told the Journal that Kalshi recently surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue. Kalshi operates its platform throughout the U.S., while Polymarket is unavailable in the U.S. The prediction markets have recently been criticized for allowing users to bet on outcomes like whether world leaders such as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be ousted.
HP Enterprise Set to Report Earnings After The Bell
The latest quarterly earnings report from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), slated for release after the market closes today, will offer investors their latest data point on AI spending. The server maker’s results and outlook each came in below estimates last quarter, amid concerns that the AI trade had left some tech firms overvalued and about whether the spending in the sector was sustainable. HP Enterprise kicks off a tech-packed week of earnings, with reports from Adobe (ADBE) and Oracle (ORCL) also scheduled to be released later this week. HP Enterprise shares, which through Friday’s close were down 12% so far in 2026, were down about 1% ahead of the opening bell.
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